Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

February 28, 1987Henderson County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Feb 28, 1987, 6:39 PM EST for Henderson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 28, 1987, 6:39 PM EST (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Feb 28, 1987, 10:30 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Henderson County, NC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 171 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1987-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1987-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 722 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
722 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
937 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 282339
FFWAVL
NCC089-010330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
639 PM EST SAT FEB 28 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTH CAROLINA...HENDERSON

SEVERAL SMALL STREAMS IN HENDERSON COUNTY INCLUDING MUD CREEK ARE
OR SOON WILL BE OVERFLOWING THEIR BANKS. THE RECENT CONTINUANCE OF
RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES HAS CAUSED THE WATERS IN THE FRENCH BROAD
RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES TO RISE TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. MUD CREEK...
JUST NORTH OF HENDERSONVILLE AND NEAR NAPLES WAS FLOWING OVER
INTO NEARBY PASTURES AROUND 630 PM EST.

A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT STREAMS IN THE WARNING AREA ARE RISING
RAPIDLY. PEOPLE LIVING NEAR STREAMS AND IN AREAS PRONE TO FAST RISING
WATER SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOODING AND TAKE ALL NECESSARY
PRECAUTIONS.

PEOPLE ARE REMINDED THAT MANY FLOOD RELATED D EATHS ARE DUE TO MOTORISTS
ATTEMPTING TO CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS, BRIDGES, AND UNDERPASSES...AND
DUE TO CHILDREN PLAYING NEAR FLOODED STREAMS OR STORM DRAINS.

 CC

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 28, 3:16 PM EST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
315 PM EST SAT FEB 28 1987

...HEAVY RAIN MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A LARGE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN.
AT 300 PM THE AREA WAS IN EASTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN GEORGIA
MOVING EAST A NEARLY 50 MILES AN HOUR.

THE HEAVY RAIN WILL SPREAD RAPIDLY OVER WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DURING
THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE ALREADY NEAR BANKFUL.
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN WILL THREATEN LOW LYING AREAS WITH LOCAL FLOODING.

PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE PLACES SHOULD BE ALERT AND BE READY TO MOVE
QUICKLY TO HIGHER GROUND. STAY TUNED TO NATIONAL WESTHER SERIVCE RADIO
OR YOUR FAVORITE COMMERCIAL aSTATION FOR THE LASTEST FORECASTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
AS
Special weather statement, Feb 28, 5:03 PM EST, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
505 PM EST SAT FEB 28 1987

...A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...

RADAR SHOWS AN AREA OF RAIN ALONG WITH SOME HEAVY SHOWERS AND A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS COVERING MOST OF NORTH GEORGIA WITH THE LEADING EDGE
OF THE PRECIPITATION MOVING INTO THE UPSTATE AREA OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
THIS AREA OF PRECIPITATION IS MOVING EASTWARD AT ABOUT 50 MPH.

RAINFALL HAS BEEN SUBSTANTIAL OVER THE AREA FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS.
MOST STREAMS AND RIVERS ARE NEAR OR A LITTLE ABOVE BANKFUL. ADDITIONAL
RAINFALL ALONG WITH THE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CAUSE
SOME RAPID RISES AND SOME FLOODING.

PERSONS ALONG AND NEAR RIVERS AND STREAMS AND IN OTHER FLOOD PRONE
AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT AND READY TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF FLOODING
IS OBSERVED OR WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.  LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
OR LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR THE LATEST ADVICE FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.
CURTIS/GSP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 28, 5:48 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPBurke, Caldwell117 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.